Wild Asparagus and Three-Cornered Leek Clafoutis

If you are lucky enough to find some wild asparagus, I recommend you make a wild asparagus and three-cornered leek clafoutis. You can replace the wild asparagus with asparagus from the supermarket, of course, and use chive instead of three-cornered leek. Clafoutis is normally a dessert so this is a savoury version. It is similar to a Yorkshire pudding or a Dutch baby.

The Backstory: Wild Asparagus and Marmiton’s Recipe

As if often happens with me, instagram is a great source of information for my foraging trips and building up my knowledge of plants. I have often wondered why I could never find wild asparagus in London. It turns out, as one of the people I follow told me (@wyltshyrespyder), that wild asparagus is a coastal plant, therefore you are more likely to find in in places near the sea like Cornwall. I guess a bird must have brought some seeds over and “delivered” them in my secret foraging spot in London. Wild asparagus is abundant in my home town Trieste in Northern Italy, which is a coastal town. I have lovely memories of picking wild asparagus with my family, it’s one of our favourite activities. However, you are only allowed to pick a very small amount so you should not be greedy! In the UK wild asparagus is quite rare and in the case of Bath asparagus you are not allowed to forage it unless you have permission from the land owner.

Three-cornered leek and wild asparagus. Picture by Paola Bassanese

The inspiration for this recipe came from watching a video recipe by French website Marmiton. I did not use cheese but you are welcome to if you like it.

INGREDIENTS

1 small bunch of wild asparagus

1 small bunch of three-cornered leek

2 eggs

80 grams plain flour

3 tablespoons of milk

1 pinch of salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Wash and cut the wild asparagus and leek into 2 cm pieces.

In an oven-proof frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil with a dash of water (about 2 tablespoons) and cook the wild asparagus for 3-5 minutes until tender.

In the meantime, in a bowl mix the eggs with the milk, flour, salt and pepper. Once well combined, add the chopped leek.

Add one tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Pour the egg mixture on top of the asparagus in the pan and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake for 25 minutes until you get a nice golden top.